Sony today announced that Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, will resign from Sony as of February 29. Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI, will assume all of Harrison’s responsibilities in addition to his role as president.
Harrison’s departure from Sony marks the latest in a series of game-industry executive shifts. The most recent of these shifts came when Peter Moore left Microsoft’s Xbox 360 division to head Electronic Arts’ EA Sports division.
Harrison joined Sony in 1992, before the launch of the original PlayStation. The division at the time eventually evolved into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which Harrison headed before being “promoted” to the worldwide role.
During his time with Sony Computer Entertainment, Harrison built strong relationships with game developers and publishers throughout the world. Because of these relationships and his reputation, Harrison will likely have his pick of game-industry jobs, should he choose to stay in the realm of videogames.
So will Harrison end up with Microsoft, leading the Xbox 360 division (perhaps supplanting Shane Kim)? Will he bolt for Nintendo, where he could serve as Reggie’s right-hand man? Or will Harrison, tired of the hardware manufacturer shtick, leave for a game company that’s strictly focused on software (e.g. EA or Activision)? Time will tell, but one thing’s certain: the videogame executive landscape has been moving and shaking during the past year, and it doesn’t appear to be calming anytime soon.